349 lines
11 KiB
Plaintext
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349 lines
11 KiB
Plaintext
Executable File
news
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worldnews
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asia
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india
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8320904
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-----
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# Alexandra Aitken, her Sikh husband, and what his friends and family really
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think about their marriage
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## When former 'It girl' Alexandra Aitken married a Sikh 'warrior' from the
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Punjab, it was regarded by many as an unlikely union.
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![Alexandra and Inderjot][1]
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Image 1 of 2
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Alexandra and Inderjot Photo: BARCROFT
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![ Bikramjit Singh (left) and Gagandeep Sandhu][2]
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Image 1 of 2
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Inerjot's friends Bikramjit Singh (left) and Gagandeep Sandhu Photo: GETHIN
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CHAMBERLAIN
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By Gethin Chamberlain in Ludhiana and Patrick Sawer in London 7:30AM GMT 13
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Feb 2011
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Following a spectacular ceremony near Amritsar - organised at such short
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notice that her father, Jonathan Aitken, the disgraced former Cabinet
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minister, and her mother were unable to attend - the former society hell-
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raiser declared her intention to live a life of humble simplicity with "the
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most beautiful man I've ever seen".
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But while most cross-cultural marriages are likely to bring their own
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particular strains and difficulties, the union of Alexandra Aitken and
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Inderjot Singh may have to bear more than most.
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Already, some of Mr Singh's relatives have stepped in to denounce the marriage
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as contravening Sikh traditions, saying that it threatens to dilute the
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family's bloodline.
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Members of his family have also cast doubt on Alexandra's widely publicised
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claim that her husband is a member of a devout Sikh warrior sect and that
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dozens of holy men left their caves to attend the wedding.
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Furthermore, there are question marks over quite how religious Mr Singh
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actually is, with friends coming forward to point out that he used to be quite
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happy living a party lifestyle.
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## Related Articles
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* [Jonathan Aitken on his daughter's marriage][3]
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02 Feb 2011
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Alexandra Aitken's marriage to Mr Singh is the culmination of a tortuous
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journey, from party girl to yoga devotee and Sikh convert, that has seen her
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dabble in Judaism, Islam, Buddhism and Kabbalah along the way.
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She told how their wedding was attended by 150 holy men who took the unusual
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step of leaving the "caves" where they spend much of their time meditating.
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Alexandra, 30, who, after her conversion, calls herself Harvinder Kaur Khalsa,
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described her husband as a pious man who spends much of his time helping to
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feed and clothe the poor.
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"Inderjot is incredibly kind and gentle, but at the same time very powerful, a
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real man," she told Hello magazine. "He's one of the easiest men in the
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world."
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She also proudly asserts that 27-year-old Mr Singh is a member of the Nihang,
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an armed order of the Sikh faith which she calls "the SAS of the religion".
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The reality, however, may be more complex.
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Friends of Mr Singh have told this newspaper that far from being particularly
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pious, he used to enjoy more of a party lifestyle and only became devout in
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his mid-20s. Like many young men, he drank, smoked cigarettes and flirted with
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girls.
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Mr Singh was brought up in the industrial city of Ludhiana, the largest in
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[India's][4] Punjab state and home to more than 1.4 million people.
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His father, Brahmjit Singh, a civil servant, and his mother, Rajinder Kaur, a
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senior clerk with the local electricity board, own property and agricultural
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land in the state and run a clothing factory supplying larger manufacturers.
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The business is overseen by Mr Singh's brother, Amanjot, known as Jyoti.
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While Mr Singh's parents appear to be happy with their son's choice of bride,
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not everyone in the family shares their delight.
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His uncle, Nacchator Singh, said: "I was decidedly against the marriage. It is
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the mixing of races and races should not be mixed."
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He claims Mr Singh has polluted their pure bloodline by marrying a British
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girl.
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"No foreigner should marry a Punjabi. We had another foreign woman come and
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marry a boy here and she stayed for a couple of years and then left him and
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took a lot of money," he said. There are fears Alexandra may soon tire of
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living amid India's poverty, contrasting as it does with her privileged
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upbringing.
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Nacchator said Mr Singh had no obvious means of supporting himself or his new
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wife. "Every 15 to 20 days, he comes home to take money from his mother," he
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said.
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"How long can his mother support him? Once the mother stops supporting him the
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mem [short for memsahib, a slightly derogatory term for a foreign woman] will
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run away."
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There are also doubts over Mr Singh's claim to be a member of the Nihang. In
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the city of Anandpur Sahib, where Mr Singh and Alexandra were staying with
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friends last week, several members of the order approached by this newspaper
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failed to recognise him from his wedding pictures.
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One, Fateh Singh, was unimpressed with the way Mr Singh wore his metal Khanda,
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symbol of Sikhism, hidden among the folds of his turban rather than proudly
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displaying it on the front as they do. "He's a fake Nihang," he muttered.
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One of Mr Singh's cousins, Baljot Singh, insisted he is not a member of the
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order.
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He said: "When he was in Australia, he came back with all the attire. But
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Inderjot is certainly not a Nihang Singh. Nihang are a specific sect and he
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does not belong to them. He is not registered with the Nihangs. He has just
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adopted the attire." He also dismissed the claim that 150 of the wedding
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guests were "cave-dwelling Nihangs".
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He said: "His friends came to the wedding wearing the Nihang clothes but they
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are not Nihang either. And they don't live in caves. They all belong to good
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families."
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Gagandeep Sandhu, who lives in Anandpur Sahib and knows Alexandra's husband,
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said: "He used to be a wild boy. He cut his hair [forbidden in Sikhism], went
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to parties, chasing girls, smoking and drinking. It would be fascinating to
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know what changed him."
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Bikramjit Singh, a 27-year-old lawyer who shared a room with Mr Singh when
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they studied together at Rayat-Bahra college of law near Chandigarh city, and
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in whose parents' house the couple have been staying, admitted that his friend
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had not always been so devout.
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In 2007, Mr Singh dropped out of college and went to Australia, where he
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attended the Holmes Institute in Sydney.
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Bikramjit Singh said: "He wanted to start a new life there like many people
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who go abroad from Punjab.
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"He went to a college there, but came back after a year. While he was in
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there, he met a saint and became very religious. Before that, yes, he was not
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so religious; he did like parties."
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The couple have already made thousands of pounds from selling the story of
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their marriage to newspapers and magazines, something which has alarmed
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members of the Sikh establishment. They are also concerned about Alexandra's
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commercial activities, which include a yoga business in California and the
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sale of yoga mats at $85 (£53).
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Her Blue Light Yoga website contains appeals for donations for the creation of
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a school in Amritsar, the location or existence of which is not made clear.
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"If you are with our religion, you don't do it for business; it is for a
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better life," said Mr Sandhu. "If someone is using the Sikh religion for
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business that is wrong. Before her marriage, she can do business, but not
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after."
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Alexandra's father, who was sentenced to 18 months in prison in 1999 after
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being found guilty of perjury and perverting the course of justice, defended
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Mr Singh, telling The Sunday Telegraph: "He is a Nihang and a teacher. He is a
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very spiritual man with a deep religious commitment. People come up to him in
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the street and ask his advice."
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Mr Aitken, who recently returned from a four-day visit to see his daughter and
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son-in-law, said that Mr Singh spends at least an hour a day working in a soup
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kitchen for the poor in the precincts of the Golden Temple.
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"Inderjot has made my daughter blissfully happy. They are wonderfully happy
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together and I rejoice in that," he said.
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* Share: [Share][5] [ ][7] [ ][8]
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http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/india/8320904/Alexandra-Aitken-
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her-Sikh-husband-and-what-his-friends-and-family-really-think-about-their-
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marriage.html
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Telegraph
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## [India][10]
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* ### [News »][11]
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* ### [World News »][12]
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* ### [Asia »][13]
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* ### [UK News »][14]
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* ### [Patrick Sawer »][15]
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In news
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][23]
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][25]
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[X][5] Share & bookmark
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[What are these?][6]
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Share:
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* [ ][5]
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* [ ][7]
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* [ ][8]
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* [Tweet][9]
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* Advertisement
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![][26]
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